Sedimentation and pollution have transformed Potter Lake at Kansas University into a shadow of its former self. Some KU students are leading an effort to revive the lake, which is slowly drying up. On Tuesday, Steve Connelly, a Leavenworth senior, and Michelle Balducci, relaxed atop the stone walkway on the north side of the lake.

Potter Lake, lined with trees and nestled in the slope of Mount Oread, is one of the most peaceful spots on the Kansas University campus.

But often that picturesque atmosphere is disrupted by beer bottles, garbage and sometimes even the odor of rotting algae. The pollution, both by chemicals and garbage, can be so bad that the pond landed on a 1999 Kansas Department of Health and Environment list of the most polluted bodies of water in Kansas.

KU students England Porter, Independence junior, and John Kenny, Leavenworth senior, would like to change that.

“We see a couple of problems with Potter Lake so far,” Kenny said. “That would range from water quality to accessibility to the area for students to come and hang out.”

The water-quality issue is caused by the use of fertilizer on campus that then drains into the lake. The fertilizer encourages algae growth, which can trap garbage and change the color of the lake. It also can cause an odor.

Three ideas to help alleviate the lake’s pollution are to eliminate drainage from Jayhawk Boulevard and Memorial Drive into Potter Lake, to reduce the amount and change the kinds of fertilizer used on campus, and to add native plants to the perimeter of the lake which would serve to filter out some of the pollutants.

“There are a number of things that could be done,” Kenny said. “We’re still getting ideas. We’re getting new ideas all the time.”

Other proposed changes include additional benches, a gazebo where musicians could perform and new paths with permeable surfaces to increase access to the south and west sides of the lake.

“The places where people could sit, where there’s grass, (are) often muddied because of a lot of foot traffic and a lack of paths,” Porter said. “In general, we want to make Potter Lake the icon it once was and really restore what it once had.”

During the past 100 years, Potter Lake has been home to athletic events, including swimming, diving and fishing. But since the lake has become so polluted – cars were pulled out of it in the mid-1950s – those activities are not advised. The lake once was 16 feet deep but now averages less than 3 feet deep.

While there’s not yet a price tag for how much these improvements would cost, Kenny and Porter would like to fund the project through the Student Senate Reserve Account. The account is built up from student fees not expended at the end of the year. The account has a few hundred thousand dollars right now.